Event #77: $1,500 Fifty Stack No-Limit Hold'em
Day 2 Completed
Event #77: $1,500 Fifty Stack No-Limit Hold'em
Day 2 Completed
Paulo Joanello has topped a field of 1,501 players to capture his World Series of Poker gold bracelet in Event #77: $1,500 Fifty Stack No-Limit Hold'em. Joanello defeated Toby Price after a back and forth heads-up match that saw Joanello walk away with the first-place prize of $321,917.
This is Joanello's fourth WSOP cash of his career, but this one will go down as his largest by far to date. The Brazilian has played poker for the majority of his career in his home country and usually only travels to the United States for the WSOP. He's been attending the annual event in Las Vegas since 2013 but this was his first final table and he wasn't about to let the bracelet escape him.
Place | Player | Country | Prize |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Paulo Joanello | Brazil | $321,917 |
2 | Toby Price | United States | $198,970 |
3 | Martin Bicanik | Czech Republic | $146,061 |
4 | Ron Moisescu | Israel | $108,349 |
5 | Roongsak Griffeth | United States | $81,228 |
6 | Axel Hallay | France | $61,550 |
7 | Elio Fox | United States | $47,145 |
8 | David Morel | United States | $36,508 |
9 | Scott Hall | United States | $28,585 |
"When he came back in heads-up, I thought I was going to lose. But I looked at the bracelet and my rail and I said "No" this is going to Brazil and these people and I'm very happy."
Joanello specifically came to the WSOP this year for the Main Event but was eliminated on Day 3. He made a deep run in Event #75: $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em Freezeout, finishing in 74th place just yesterday. After jumping into this tournament shortly after, Joanello said everything just fit into place.
"Today, I ran good. It feels awesome," Joanello shared with PokerNews after his victory.
Joanello had one of the most boisterous rails at the 2021 WSOP and the Brazilians seem to never disappoint. When the final river card was dealt, Joanello was jumping around with his rail and the echoes could be heard throughout the Amazon Room. He admitted afterward what this means to him and the country of Brazil.
"It's a dream, a dream come true. I have no voice left because I was yelling, but it's a dream for all of us." Joanello could barely fight back the tears but he was still grinning from ear to ear.
There were 114 players that returned to the felt for the second and final day of this event. The action was fast and furious right from the start with players all over the room being eliminated in the first hand. Some of the early exits included Bart Lybaert (107th place), Anthony Spinella (87th place), Ari Engel (86th place), Martin Jacobson (71st place), Gal Yifrach (56th place), and Damian Salas (44th place).
It was a sprint to the final table which occurred prior to the dinner break in level 32. Scott Hall started the final table third in chips but sent a big double to Price in the early going. On the very next hand, his pocket sevens fell to the pocket kings of Joanello. He was quickly followed to the payout desk by David Morel in eighth place who was also a victim of Joanello's hot streak.
On the last hand before the dinner break, Elio Fox bowed out in seventh place. Fox was the shortest stack remaining on the table and decided to get his chips in the middle before the blinds came around one more time. Unfortunately for him, Joanello woke up with pocket tens in the big blind and Fox was unable to recover.
Once the players returned from dinner break, Axel Hallay, Roongsak Griffeth, and Ron Moisescu filed their way to the payout desk in short order. Hallay lost a coin flip, Griffeth bluffed his stack after missing a combo draw, and Moisescu ran into kicker problems after flopping top pair.
With only three players remaining, Price held a commanding lead with around 80% of the chips in play. However, those chips got splashed around a bit, with the majority of them going to Joanello. Martin Bicanik and his rail were enjoying watching the action unfold but eventually, the blinds got too big for the short stack. Bicanik got it in good with ace-king against the ace-jack of Joanello, but a jack on the flop would put Joanello in the lead and Bicanik was ousted in third place.
The heads-up battle started with Price in the lead but the two players exchanged the chip lead multiple times over the course of the two-hour battle. Price was slowly getting shorter near the end of the last level and it all came to a halt when he flopped top pair against the overpair of Joanello. An explosion of cheers could be heard throughout the rail and Price was forced to head to the payout desk in second place.
That wraps up our coverage for this event but there is still one more week of tournaments to be played at the Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino. Keep it locked here for all of the updates at PokerNews.
Paulo Joanello raised to 3,300,000 and Toby Price called to see a flop of . Price checked and Joanello bet 3,200,000.
Price moved all in for around 15,000,000 more and Joanello snap-called with . Price had for a pair of queens.
The on the turn took away some of Price's outs, and the on the river sealed the win for the Brazilian as his rail exploded in celebration.
Player | Chips | Progress |
---|---|---|
Paulo Joanello |
75,100,000
23,900,000
|
23,900,000 |
|
||
Toby Price | Busted |
Paulo Joanello raised to 3,200,000 on the button and Toby Price defended from the big blind. The flop came and Price checked to Joanello who continued for 3,000,000. Price called and the landed on the turn.
Price checked again and Joanello splashed in a bet of 7,000,000. Price looked back at his cards and then ditched them to the muck, sending the pot to Joanello.
Player | Chips | Progress |
---|---|---|
Paulo Joanello |
51,200,000
7,100,000
|
7,100,000 |
|
||
Toby Price |
23,800,000
-7,200,000
|
-7,200,000 |
Toby Price raised to 3,500,000 before Paulo Joanello re-raised all in. Price quickly let his hand go.
This was the third time in the last four hands Joanello had gone all in without getting called. He has now retaken the chip lead from Price.
Player | Chips | Progress |
---|---|---|
Paulo Joanello |
44,100,000
21,200,000
|
21,200,000 |
|
||
Toby Price |
31,000,000
-21,100,000
|
-21,100,000 |
Paulo Joanello raised to 3,400,000 on the button and Toby Price called from the big blind. The flop came and Price checked to Joanello who continued with a bet of 3,000,000. Price check-raised all in and Joanello folded.
Two hands later, Joanello opened to 3,400,000 on the button again and Price defended. The flop fell and both players checked to the on the turn. Price led out with a bet of 5,000,000 and Joanello let his hand go.
Player | Chips | Progress |
---|---|---|
Toby Price |
52,100,000
12,800,000
|
12,800,000 |
Paulo Joanello |
22,900,000
-12,900,000
|
-12,900,000 |
|
Level: 40
Blinds: 800,000/1,600,000
Ante: 1,600,000
Toby Price raised to 2,600,000 and Paulo Joanello called. The flop came and Price continued for 2,000,000.
Joanello raised to 5,000,000 before Price shoved all in. Joanello quickly folded.
The next hand, Joanello made it 2,600,000 preflop and Price three-bet to 6,000,000. Joanello called as the flop came . Price led out for 7,000,000 and Joanello again quickly let go of his hand.
Player | Chips | Progress |
---|---|---|
Toby Price |
39,300,000
12,400,000
|
12,400,000 |
Paulo Joanello |
35,800,000
-12,300,000
|
-12,300,000 |
|
Toby Price limped in on the button and Paulo Joanello checked his option. The flop came and Joanello checked to Price who bet 2,000,000. Joanello called and the paired the board on the turn.
Joanello checked again and Price checked it back this time. The river was the and Joanello led out with a bet of 5,000,000. Price called and Joanello showed for trip queens to take the pot.
Player | Chips | Progress |
---|---|---|
Paulo Joanello |
48,100,000
10,500,000
|
10,500,000 |
|
||
Toby Price |
26,900,000
-10,600,000
|
-10,600,000 |
Toby Price raised to 2,700,000 and Paulo Joanello three-bet to around 6,000,000. Before his hand even left his chips Price announced he was all in and Joanello folded just as quickly.
Player | Chips | Progress |
---|---|---|
Paulo Joanello |
37,600,000
-10,500,000
|
-10,500,000 |
|
||
Toby Price |
37,500,000
10,600,000
|
10,600,000 |